should i raise the price?

[farmer steve]

thinking about raising the price on my bins of firewood i sell along the road. the bins hold a strong 1/4 cord. i usually put a mix of oak, ash and sometimes maple or cherry. i sell it that the customer hauls it. i help load. i have been getting $55.00 the last 2 years but am thinking of going to $60.
this is not the exact bin i use but it real close the the size i sell. thanks for your input.FS.

 

[STLfirewood]

Are you selling out with no problem? If so yes. Or raise the price on new customers and keep it the same on repeat customers.

Scott

 

[brenndatomu]

How's sales? Do you have a good supply vs what you have been selling? If it looks like you are gonna sell out, raise it, especially if that wood is dry

Edit: Good idea on the new customer pricing...^^^

 

[zogger]

Well, why not? If demand is strong, that extra five bucks would cover one expense for you , say even just the two stroke mix and bar oil.

I checked a lot of CL ads in my area, most, but not all, prices have gone up from last year. Was running around 150/cord, now at around 200 or so. Still some lowballers, but I think even those guys realise 150 a cord ain't enough. It is hard to tell though as most still use the dubious "load" measurement.

 

[stihlaficionado]

If it's all hardwood, it's still cheap at $60, imo. In my neck of the woods, seasoned hardwoods go for $300-$330 a cord, delivery extra.

 

[lone wolf]

Raise it you can lower it if it don't sell but I think it will.

 

[flotek]

If the demand is there then what's another 5 bucks ? Personally I wouldn't give 30 bucks for that load but I live in an area prevalent with sawmills and laid off guys with poloun wild things galore

 

[Fred Wright]

Steve, I don't see why not. If your firewood was priced too high it wouldn't sell at all. Priced low, it'll fly off the lot. Try raising the price a little at a time until sales start to slip. That should give you an idea of where to set your pricing.

There's a fellow down the road a piece who sells stacked seasoned splits in face cords. He gets $75.00 for 'em and still sells out every winter.

 

[farmer steve]

If the demand is there then what's another 5 bucks ? Personally I wouldn't give 30 bucks for that load but I live in an area prevalent with sawmills and laid off guys with poloun wild things galore

you must be up norf pa.

 

[muddstopper]

I can get a 30ton load of mixed hardwoods for around $800. That is about 10actual cords based on weight. I can process that wood and sell it in 1/3 cord ricks for about $65 per rick, or $195 cord. That give me a pretty good markup for just processing and not having to hual in or hual out. I reality the wood processed and stacked comes out to about 12-14 measured cords. Just depends on the dia of the wood being split.

Cord weights of common firewood species in my area. http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/calculators/calc.pl
Species: Alder, RedSmall End Diameter: 48.00Large End Diameter: 48.00Length: 8.00'Quantity: 1.00Estimated Weight: 4067

Species: Oak, Southern redSmall End Diameter: 48.00Large End Diameter: 48.00Length: 8.00'Quantity: 1.00Estimated Weight: 5714

Species: Oak, WhiteSmall End Diameter: 48.00Large End Diameter: 48.00Length: 8.00'Quantity: 1.00Estimated Weight: 6596

Species: Maple, SilverSmall End Diameter: 48.00Large End Diameter: 48.00Length: 8.00'Quantity: 1.00Estimated Weight: 4841

Species: Hickory, ShellbarkSmall End Diameter: 48.00Large End Diameter: 48.00Length: 8.00'Quantity: 1.00Estimated Weight: 6811

 

[Dirtboy]

Sounds like it works out to $240 a cord if you raise the price. That's about right for a full cord over here.

 

[mainewoods]

$60 for a quarter cord of seasoned( I presume) c/s hardwood is a fair price in my book. People like buying fractions just because the smaller price is something they can afford. That's why small payments are so easy for everyone to handle. Selling 1/4 cord increments is a great idea.

 

[qweesdraw]

I raised my bundle wood prices earlier this summer.
The first few weeks were a little slow,after that they busted loose.
It's called inflation,food prices are up fuel and unaffordable health care are all a factor.
Seems as if we all need to make an honest living.

 

[Mike from Maine]

COLA

 

[farmer steve]

COLA

????

 

[zogger]

????

I believe that is cost of living adjustment. Like govt checks.

 

[stihlaficionado]

????

Cost of Living Adjustment

 

[greendohn]

Yep, hike it up to 60 clams,,heck the price of cold frosties aint getting any lower,,

 

[flotek]

Sure raise the prices up .. Sounds like You need to watch more cnn or Msm . The whitehouse has assured us everyone has more money in their pockets these days to spend thanks to affordable health care act ,and the super low grocery and fuel prices these days

 

[zogger]

An idea I have been toying with but haven't implemented yet. Just do barter as the first step. A lot of people are cash shy, but have junk they might swap for firewood. Just go for wicked deals, nothing else, it has to be a "you suck" level deal to you, and it doesn't matter what the swap is. Now, flip the stuff. You could very well come out way ahead of the game.